On Saturday night, Shakur Stevenson delivered one of his strongest and most entertaining performances in the ring, defeating William Zepeda by unanimous decision at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.
In a fight where he sought to silence his critics, the Newark pugilist was more aggressive than usual and managed to win by wide scores: 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.
With this victory, Stevenson not only retained his WBC lightweight world title for the third time, but also proved that he can trade punches without resorting exclusively to his usual defensive style. However, Ryan Garcia, true to his style, did not hesitate to challenge the boxer.
Ryan Garcia issues warning after fight
As soon as the fight was over, Ryan Garcia took to social media to comment on Stevenson’s performance. Although he recognized his performance, he did so in an ironic way, stating that this time he did not run, although mentioning that this time Shakur did not fight against a top opponent.
Garcia questioned the level of the opponent, suggesting that he still wants to see Stevenson against a fighter with real power to measure his ability to resist.
It is worth noting, however, that William Zepeda went into the fight with an 82% knockout rate in his first 33 professional fights, which might partly belie Garcia’s perception.
However, Zepeda was coming off two close fights against Tevin Farmer, which raised doubts about his effectiveness against elite boxers. Stevenson took advantage of this gap to dominate from the start, completely nullifying the Mexican’s pressure and volume style.
Shakur Stevenson remains undefeated
At the end of the fight, Shakur Stevenson reflected on his performance to DAZN. “I went in to prove a point. It wasn’t the fight I wanted because I tried to trade punches and that’s why I took more punishment than usual,” he admitted. Nevertheless, the American was satisfied with the result and with having shown a more aggressive version.
I have a fighting heart, I’m not a poodle
He also praised his rival by highlighting his demands: “Zepeda is one of the toughest opponents at 135 pounds. He pushed me to another level”.
With this victory, Stevenson reaches an undefeated record of 24-0 and takes a firm step to establish himself as one of the big names in the lightweight division. However, for Ryan Garcia, he has yet to prove himself to be a top-class boxer, despite being the WBC champion.
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